Laws of Attraction
by erroroperator123
Summary: The law was simple. Marry and have a child. It was the most absurd idea Draco had ever heard....marry Granger!....my take on the marriage law story.
1. A New Arrangement

**_Author's Note: _**I hope you enjoy this, I've edited it a bit from last posting it. Beta'd by xslowlyxfallingx. Lyrics by Bright Eyes.  
**Disclaimer:** I own nothing

* * *

_If you could change your days  
Arranging them in some sweet new sequence  
Like any new arrangement's gonna to make a difference  
'Cause it's the moment that you're living in  
And not the one that follows_

"I can't believe they're doing this." Ron grumbled.

"They're changing everyone's lives, Ronald. They know people are going to be quite furious at the prospect of jump ing into marriage. Surely they must know what they're doing, otherwise they wouldn't be doing it. They are the Ministry of Magic after all." Hermione attempted to reason with him.

Ron rolled his eyes. "Yeah, and did you forget they used to have Dolores Umbridge employed there?" Hermione ignored him, knowing his smart remarks were because of his anger about the situation.

She didn't blame him either. He held the letter that led to say their lives weren't going to be the same at all by the end of the week. If things went back to the same way as they were, that was. There was that fear of the possibility that things would never go back to the way they were.

And it was all because of that bloody letter.

Hermione went and grabbed it from Ron, reading over what it said.

_Dear Wizards and Witches of the magical community, ___

_Due to the recent events of You-Know-Who's downfall, the Wizarding World has suffered many tremendous casualties in our population. Let us not forget our heroes who befell tragedy in the war, but celebrate their honor with new life. It is time f or a new setting, myself and my advisors believe. It is time for a change. One that is in the best interest of all of your futures. _

_A majority rule in favor of a marriage law has been acknowledged. We have come to realize over the last year the startling change the war has had on our world. I am sorry to say that couples that are not married or engaged to be married that are over the age of 20 will be sent in a roster to be wed. I and the others at the Ministry do hope you understand our need to repopulate our world. If we do not, we fear that we may not have a Wizarding World to live in very much longer. _

_Do not fear, you are allowed to choose your partners. We do not want to pressure you both into a marriage neither wants. The male significant other of one's relationship simply needs to go to the Ministry to see the roster and request your name for marriage, thus making it somewhat like an __anonymous__ proposal. A letter will be sent to each female, to inform them of their request in marriage. Each witch will then come to the Ministry to choose her specified suitors. ___

_The suitors who are not chosen are given a list of the other available witches to choose from. But remember, a suitor may only reque st one witch - unless he is refused the offer of marriage. _

_After agreeing, both will meet at the Ministry to discuss the terms the marriage afterwards. After choosing a suitor, the pair will have a total of six months to plan the marriage and will need to produce a child within two years of being married to fulfill the purpose of this law. The matter of conceiving a child is exactly why we are allowing people to choose their suitors, for in case they do not wish to conceive with certain people if paired at random. _

_Sudden engagements will not slip past the Ministry, I'm afraid, as we already have a list of the available candidates for the marriage law. We strongly wish that you would comply to the Ministry's wishes. If you do happen to be engaged, then our wishes are that you simply have your marriage in the six months time given to the ones who aren't. _

_Once the population is back to acceptably standard, couples are very much allowed to leave their selected partner. This is merely to ensure the safety of our community. _

_The letters informing of request in marriage will be sent immediately after being processed to the home the citizen is currently residing in, actual home or not. Requests for marriage are being accepted until Friday, then the females shall be informed of their chosen suitors. _

_Kingsley R. Shacklebolt _  
_Minister of Magic _

Molly snatched the letter read over it in a fury. "I can't believe this, Arthur. A marriage law? It's absurd! Who in their right mind could practically force _children_ to get married?" She exclaimed, pushing the letter into her husband's hands.

Arthur examined the parchment for a moment before his eyes scanned over it quickly. A sigh escaped him once he'd finished reading. "There isn't much anything I can do about this. It's all in the Ministry's hands." He said, handing the parchment back to Ron.

"I am 25 y'know! Hardly young enough to be considered a child!" Ron glared, insulted at his mother's comment.

Molly then rolled up her copy of _The Daily Prophet_ and smacked Ron on the side of the head with it. He rubbed his head where she'd hit him, still upset. "And barely old enough to be considered an adult! Do you want to know how old I am?" She asked him.

Before Ron could answer, Molly let out a squeak at hearing a loud _'POP!_' behind her. Turning around, she let out a growl of annoyance as Charlie grinned, trying to ignore his mother's hitting him repeatedly on the arm with a rolled up paper. "What's with th e violence?"

Molly tossed the paper off to the side. Rubbing her temples, she glared at the letter in Ron's hands again. "Charlie, have you seen this?" Molly practically wailed, pointing to the letter in Ron's hands. "It's absolutely outlandish!" She said in disapproval.

"A bit barbaric, actually." Hermione quipped, still angry as well. "Kingsley must have had some reasonable logic behind this decision. It was a majority vote, too." She added in an afterthought, trying to reason with herself more than the others.

Charlie's expression wasn't readable. "I know, I heard. I think everyone has by now. Plenty of people are already at the Ministry requesting." He said with a shake of his head.

"It's plum stupid, that's what it is," Ron said, finally speaking up. "People are already requesting? It's only been one day!" He exclaimed, shocked that people were reacting so quickly. They themselves had just found out merely an hour before.

"How would you know?" Hermione asked Charlie, and his ears seemed to tinge pink. Her eyes widened. "You were requesting as well, weren't you?" She accused him, and everyone's eyes went to Charlie after she had.

Immediately, his cheeks went even more20colorful, but he kept the charming smile on his face. "Well, yes. I wanted to go ahead and get my request in, seeing as how I couldn't really avoid it. Might as well go ahead and get things done with." He said with a shrug.

Molly clapped her hands together. "Oh, who is she?"

"But it's horrible!" An objection came from Hermione before Charlie even could process what his mother had asked. "What if the women don't even know who the people are that are requesting her? They're forcing children and marriage upon people, some of whom might not be financially able to care for a child." she argued.

She harshly objected to what was happening, but she wasn't going to try and rebel against the Ministry's decision. It was Kingsley! He helped hem hide Sirius, he surely couldn't have a hidden motive behind the law. From what Hermione knew of him, he didn't have much of a selfish bone in his body. There wasn't much the Ministry or he could gain from this decision, anyways.

Charlie held up a finger to Hermione. "That is why they are allowing men to request. A boyfriend or something can also request, and she can simply choose whom she wishes to marry. Most girls are bound to get at least two requests." Hermione's cheeks flamed at this, secretly thinking that she would not be one of these girls.

"Plus, I'm sure they wouldn0t allow the marriage to take place if it were unable to care for a child. If they did, they would more than likely give financial aide to whoever would need it. They can't just throw everyone into this without anything to support them with." Charlie finished.

Arthur nodded in agreement with his son. "Kingsley is a good man, you all know that. He even helped us with hiding Sirius when we needed help. He must have had some idea that this would be in the best interests of the community." Especially since there wasn't a way Kingsley or the Ministry could personally benefit from the situation, either. Not that he would if it were available.

Hermione looked to the floor. "It's still barbaric. What if someone doesn't want to have children?" She questioned. Of course, she had wanted children herself - albeit in a distance from now - but she couldn't say much for other witches. Some people were perfectly happy without children.

"There is always wizarding adoption, Hermione." Arthur said, causing Hermione to glance in horror. "These are simply my theories. Don't worry, I'm sure Kingsley has something thought up. He wouldn't just jump into something as life-altering as this without any idea as to what he was going to do about the repercussions."

"Just wait 'til Harry hears." Ron mumbled. "If he hasn't already."

"He shouldn't worry if he had, anyways." Ginny spoke, entering the room. That was true, him being previously engaged to Ginny before the law was issued would help them. They would not have to change anything to follow this new law.

Hermione felt a twinge of jealousy. If only things between her and Ron had worked out in their previous relationship, perhaps they could get engaged. Then things would be just fine. But Hermione knew Ron well enough to know that he already had his eye on someone to petition for.

"Shouldn't he be here any minute now with Teddy?" Hermione asked, and Ginny nodded a confirmation with a smile.

"Well now, who is she?" Molly asked again to Charlie. "I want to know who my future daughter-in-law is!" A smile came across her face as she said this. "Oh, another wedding. Lovely!" The happiness with the idea of another wedding for the Weasleys (or more than one, it would seem) seemed to cloud over Molly's anger about the law.

"She has to accept me first, mum." Charlie said with a smirk . "But we discussed it this morning before I went, so I'm pretty confident that she will. She's the one that told me to, after all." He laughed. "Her name's Pandora, she works with me with the dragons." Molly nearly squealed with delight.

"Pandora? Sounds a bit foreboding, doesn't?" Ron laughed aloud, and Hermione glared at him. He leaned over to Ginny to whisper something, not as quietly as he'd planned though. "She told him? I wonder who's going to wear the pants in that relationship." Ginny snickered, Hermione sighed.

"I think it's a perfectly lovely name. Oh my, I wonder what George and Percy are going to do.." Molly said, then snapped her attention back to Ron. "Who do you want to ask for then?"

Ron's face went as red as his hair and Charlie began smirking. "I - Uh, I was thinking I could petition for Hermione...so she doesn't end up on a bad string of blokes." He admitted, turning even redder if possible.

"Oh, Ron..." Hermione began. "You can't - "

He cut her off by standing up. Molly and Arthur had retreated from the room, feeling nosy for being around. The feeling did not seem to be with Ginny and Charlie, as they stayed in the room. "Yes, Hermione. That's just it, I can. I don't want you ending up having to choose between a group of tossers. At least with me you know you won't have anything really to worry about."

Hermione looked at Ron in admiration. Both of them knew that he had already had the idea of aski ng about Susan Bones. The two had become good friends at work the year before and it was quite obvious that the two were inevitably going to get together sometime. Much to Hermione's dismay, anyone who didn't see that they were crazy about each other had to be bonkers.

Which pulled at Hermione's heart. He was willing to sacrifice his happiness to ensure her well-being. Hermione knew very well that Ron was in love with Susan. As much as she would have been overjoyed at the prospect of marrying Ron, she couldn't do that to him. There was nothing she wanted more than her friend's happiness nowadays, and if he sacrificed that just for her then she wouldn't be able to live with the guilt. If she let Ron give up his opportunity with Susan, the guilt would gnaw at her day after day.

"There is no way I'm letting you do that, Ronald." She announced. He looked flabbergasted. "However admirable of a notion, I can't let you do that. Thank you, I'll be perfectly fine though. You go and petition for Susan. She's a pretty girl, she's going to have quite a few boys requesting her." At that comment, Ron's face fell slightly. "Ron, you need to just go petition for her now. I'm certain she'll pick you." Hermione smiled reassuringly at him.

Charlie walked over and put a hand over Ron's shoulder. "C'mon, she's right. I'll take you now if you'd like. You won't know where to go, so we can side-along apparate."

Ron nodded along with a shy smile towards Hermione, and the two were gone2 0within seconds, leaving the similar _'POP!'_ behind.

It was only minutes later that Harry floo'd in with Teddy ranting about what he'd read in _The Prophet._

Draco sighed, taking the glasses from the house-elf and handing one to Blaise Zabini. "Thank you, that's enough for now, Jinxie." He dismissed the house-elf with a wave of his hand before taking a seat. Narrowing his eyes, he picked up his copy of _The Daily Prophet_ he had gotten the day before.

Blaise laughed when he took the glass from Draco and began sipping the champagne Draco had had prepared. "That is a shock, isn't it?" He said, pointing his glass towards the article mentioning the new law. "I nearly had a fit when I got my letter this morning. Never would have guessed Shacklebolt would so something like that."

Draco glared before taking a drink out of his own glass. "It's preposterous. Who is this old fool to tell me when I have to get married and have a child, if I even had the intention at all?" He spat, looking at the pic ture above the headline.

"Aye, but what are you going to do about it? You are trying to get into his good graces, after all; Along with everyone else's. It would probably be best if you just went along with this, it would help you in the long run." Blaise replied.

"The long run? Me? Marrying a woman at twenty-five years old and having a child in two years?" Draco hissed.

Blaise shrugged. "You're the one wanting to run for Head of Departments. And you know you're not a likely winner because of the past." Draco winced when Blaise mentioned the war and how the side Draco's loyalties rested on were obviously displayed at his sixth year at Hogwarts. Blackmail or not, the Ministry wasn't going to welcome a former Death Eater with open arms.

"And what do you suggest I do then?" Draco asked, his voice dripped heavy with sarcasm. Everything was riding on him winning this election, Draco had spent tho usands of galleons to fund its beginnings. Even if he knew he wasn't a likely candidate to be chosen.

Well, maybe not everything. But it was pretty damned important. His amount of galleons would be doubled in his Gringotts vault with how much money he could be making. Much of their money was what his father had to pay in fines to some of the many crimes he was convicted of. He was still obviously wealthy, nothing to consider him needing to worry about what he bought. But he still would prefer to have a larger reserve than what he did at the moment

"It could give you some extreme leverage if you chose a muggle-born." Blaise said as if it were nothing.

Draco looked horrified. "You're suggesting I try and marry a mudblood? What the hell did you hit your head on today when you got your letter?"

Blaise chuckled. "Draco. I'm being honest. Kingsley Shacklebolt was an Auror, you must remember that. He fought for the light, he fought for muggles and muggle-borns. It would seem a wise decision in his eyes if you were to step up and choose a muggle-born to be your bride and mother of your child. Hermione Granger, in particular."

"And cause the Malfoy name to be tarnished? Absolutely not!" Draco barked. "You're absolutely mad to think I would ever consider marrying that beaver." He grimaced to remember the brainy Gryffindor. "I would murder her in her sleep, that is if she wouldn't get me first."

"Think about it, Draco." Blaise advised his friend. "She was good friends with Shacklebolt from what I hear, she helped rid the world of You-Know-Who. Plus, she's best friends with the-boy-who-saved-everyone and - "

Draco held up a hand to stop him short of finishing. "I get it, they bloody love her. They'd worship the ground she walked on if she worked in their departments. That doesn't change anything."

Simply the idea of marrying Hermione Granger sent chills up Draco's spine. And possibly, the rising of bile in his throat. Whatever it be, it was obvious showings that Draco did not want to marry her, or be near her in any way possible.

"Sure it would." Blaise said. "If you chose any muggle-born, Shacklebolt mig ht be wondering why you are doing so. He'll find out you're just doing it to get into his good book, he isn't an idiot. You two do have history."

Draco laughed into his glass. "Yes, a history of resisting the urge to strangle the other. I know that Shacklebolt isn't an idiot. He'll notice that it is a ruse and hate me even more. He will not believe the fact that I want to marry Granger. Nor do I even want to."

"But the public Ministry isn't always that intelligent, you forget." Blaise smirked. "They are, after all, the majority of the votes you would receive. All members in the Ministry vote, even the lower classed ones. Every vote counts. Yo u might not fool Shacklebolt, but you could fool the public if you kept your image up around Granger."

Draco looked disgusted, but knew Blaise was right. All he had to do was make a few public appearances with her and make them seem like a happy couple. Though, it would be very short appearances because within minutes later they would be arguing up a storm. But it could still be done.

It just might work if he could pull this off.

Still, did it have to be Granger?

"I highly doubt I could deal with myself to have to conceive a child with that woman. And pregnancy isn't often the first time. There is no way I could possibly even attempt it, or live through, 'doing the deed' with Granger more than one time"

"Use fertility potions. You know she isn't particularly ugly, Draco. She's not the best looker, but she isn't ugly if you look close enough. And she's absolutely feisty, you have to wonder what it would be like with her in the bedroom."

"Then why don't you marry her?" Draco snapped. "I could pick any muggle-born witch for this. It doesn't have to be Granger." Draco tried to prove, but Blaise shook his head.

"I'm not the one running in an election. Granger has all the inside information that you're dying to know. She does the desk-work. The desk-work that includes your mother's case file. Along with your father's. And with her close relations with her society-loved friends, it would help you more." He said.

Draco paused. Blaise knew that would interest him. He was more interested than anything to get Narcissa an appeal out of Azkaban, and Hermione Granger had every bit of information on her case. If he could just get a hold on that file, he could try and help her himself. "I hate you, Kingsley Shacklebolt." Draco glared at the paper in front of him again.

"I take it you're agreeing?" Draco didn't have to look at his friend to notice that he was grinning.

"You're forgetting, Granger has to accept to the suitor. And she's probably going to want Potter or Weasel-bee." Draco said abruptly, angered that the plan had just fallen through.

"Potter's engaged and Weasley already asked for Susan Bones. I saw it requesting for Pansy." Draco looked in surprise when Blaise mentioned his own request. Pansy? "You...you chose Pansy." He mumbled.

"Yes, that shocks you?" Draco merely nodded. "She's my good friend, Draco. I didn't really have anyone else in mind, anyways. Plus, I've always fancied her. Even though she'll be a handful."

"None of that doesn't mean Granger will ever agree to me." Draco said,20getting it back onto the topic. "She hates me almost as much as I hate her."

Blaise just smirked. "I know people that correspond with her. You just leave Granger to me." Blaise tipped his glass to Draco. "To your new campaign."


	2. Contrast and Compare

**Author's Note: **An update on my birthday! This chapter is unbeta'd. I hope you enjoy it though. Lyrics by Bright Eyes.

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing.

* * *

_Contrast and compare between the busy ones  
And the ones that don't care  
Until there is no one that you really know_

Hermione Granger was not a happy camper. No, she most definitely was not at all. She was the camper who's tent blew over and who's clothes were scattered while swimming in the lake in the middle of the night.

Well, maybe that was a bit of a strange analogy, but she was frustrated all the same.

It was Friday afternoon. Barely two hours ago Hermione had been sent a letter informing her of her possible husband. To her surprise, she had not one suitor asking for her hand in marriage, but she had three. Three separate men wanted to marry her.

Many girls would have considered themselves quite lucky to have three suitors, most receive just two from who'd she had heard from. Then again, there were always the exceedingly desired women such as Cho Chang who's suitor would come into both intelligence and money from her family. Girls like her would more than likely receive at least three suitors.

This was what startled Hermione to a degree. Sure, she was smart, but she knew that was almost all she had to offer. She wasn't being modest when she acknowledged that she wasn't beautiful. No, she was no toad, but she knew she was not the first thing to catch a man's eye.

Like the Weasleys, she had little money to offer. Her parents were successful dentists, but their money was next to worthless in the Wizarding World. She was having enough difficulty as it was with trying to find an explanation for her suddenly getting married to her parents.

And it would be even harder with the three she had to choose from. These people must have been barking mad to think she could even consider marrying any of the men listed on her letter.

Gregory Goyle, Zacharias Smith, and Draco Malfoy.

Zacharias was somewhat believable, considering their short period of 'dating' in sixth year, if she could call it that.

He was a nice boy. Well, nice enough for someone. Anyone, except Hermione. She learned with her private meeting with him at the Ministry which she had just left, thanking Merlin for being able to get out of there. She could not have a long enough conversation with him without wanting to wring his neck. And his arrogance was horrid, not even any graceful nature about it. Not that she would be interested if it was.

Though, that was basically how it was with any of the three.

The other two, however, completely shocked her. She knew that Draco wanted to get back into the limelight of society, which was probably why he wanted her. But she was not going to help out a former death eater for the fun of it, especially when it involved having his children.

Hermione sighed and stepped into the room to see Gregory Goyle facing the window. Despite her large knowledge of the law, she thought it best to hire a professional lawyer for herself as well. She closed the door, catching his attention as he spun to face her.

"Hullo," his deep voice rumbled.

Hermione cringed. "Hello, Goyle."

"Hello, Granger." he said nodding in her direction. "The years have done you well," He said, though she wasn't exactly sure what he meant by it.

"I'm not exactly sure what you mean." Hermione said lightly. "The years," She paused, trying to find a word to say that wouldn't sound too rude. "Haven't been harsh on you either." It may not have been the nicest compliment around, but it was the nicest one she could give him without lying. Too much.

"It would be nice, y'know." He seemed to get straight to the point. Hermione wasn't sure if she liked that or not, mainly because of the tone of his voice. It didn't indicate anything she would be pleased with. Her lawyer, Sebastian Ambrose, as well as his own looked at the two wearily.

"I don't really know what you're talking about," Hermione said glaring.

He smiled at her. "I have a good bit of money," Not that it mattered to her, but Hermione immediately knew he was lying. His family had lost almost all of their money to pay in fines for crimes committed against the Wizarding World, and still were serving their time in Azkaban.

Instinctively when he advanced towards her, she backed away. "No you don't. I don't care if you have money."

"We could have quite a few little ones running around. I best know with how," He paused, thinking of the right word to use. "_happy _I'd be with that, there'd be at least three youngsters. We could last, have a few kids or so. Maybe some more later on. Even if they're from a mudblood."

Hermione looked horrified. There was no way she wanted to think about conceiving with this...this _boy. _"Why in Merlin's beard do you want to marry me if I'm just a mudblood, then?" She hissed. When she entered the room, she had every intention of trying to have a civil conversation with him, but it just seemed impossible.

He reached out to stroke her face. "Always thought you were a pretty little thing, probably a lion just like at Hogwarts." She knew he wasn't talking about the animal in a friendly nature. She was disgusted.

"We're done here." Sebastian announced, showing Hermione to the door. She took no time as she sped out. "Your client obviously doesn't have any true genuine intention of marrying mine other than to get a shag," He said bluntly before closing the door.

Hermione let out a groan of annoyance. That meant she was either going to spend her next two years married to either an arrogant person or an idiot. Well, Draco Malfoy could fall under both categories. And now she had to have a personal meeting with him.

"Do I have to do this?" She asked, a plea hidden in her voice. "The only reason he wants to marry me is because he wants to redeem himself. I don't even see any need to meet with him." It wouldn't take a Ravenclaw to figure that out. Draco Malfoy cared about no one but himself, and in some way he thought that she could help.

For a moment, Sebastian looked quite frantic, but covered his expression quickly. "N-no, come along. I'm sure you can meet with him. He might just want to marry you!" He said a bit too cheerfully. Hermione eyed him suspiciously.

"There is no way that man wants to simply marry me. He detests me, just as much as I do him. Anyone who thinks a marriage between us is even possible is out of their right mind." Hermione laughed, and began to head out the door.

"Wait!" Sebastian called out, Hermione turned around. He had the door slightly opened, obviously wanting her to come inside. "You might still want to hear what he has to say."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Sebastian, come on. Maybe there's another at the desk," There must have been someone else available, another suitor who had been rejected. Any other. She stormed off to the assistant's desk, leaving a panicking Sebastian at the door still.

"Excuse me," Hermione smiled at the assistant. "I was just wondering if you had the list of the refused suitors currently so I could look at them. I'm not exactly pleased with my options and would like to know of the ones available if you could." She said sweetly.

The woman looked annoyed. "No. What you see is what you get. Sorry Miss, but if I let that go, no telling how many women would be badgering me right now. Should have gotten a boyfriend to ask for you if you don't like your options." The woman said bluntly.

Hermione looked with her mouth hanging open. This woman could not be serious. "I'm a personal friend of Kingsley Shacklebolt, if you wouldn't mind me speaking to him I - " Almost as if on cue, Kingsley walked by and stopped to greet Hermione.

"Oh, hello Hermione! It's been quite a long time, hasn't it? I assume you're here meeting your suitors?" He smiled at her, and Hermione nodded.

She looked up and held up a finger. "You see, sir, that was exactly what I was trying to get into contact with you about. I'm sorry to sound so picky, but my suitors are just absolutely horrid. The majority of them absolutely loathed me throughout school, and I am pretty sure they still do. There is no way a marriage between us could work."

Kingsley stared at her for a moment, absorbing in what she had said. He looked at her in sympathy. "I'm sorry, Hermione, but I can't let you just pick out any boy you want. The week has passed for that to happen. I allowed the girls to tell their mates or someone in mind to request for them so they would be able to choose themselves, but if I allowed you to choose someone else entirely then I would be showing favoritism." He said, Hermione's cheeks tinged pink.

"If I showed favoritism towards a person, all of them would be expecting me to let them just randomly choose after the law is already being set into action. I do hope you understand," He apologized. "I'm sorry, but you'll have to decide between the suitors you were given the choices of. I'm sure not all of them can be too bad."

Hermione looked away. "Then how do you match up the rejected suitors with other females?" She asked him. If there was a way to get out of marrying these boys then she was going to get him to tell her.

He paused once again. "You did notice how we've matched up everyone by age, correct?" She nodded in confirmation as though just realizing it. "Exactly. We don't want older wizards going for exceedingly young witches."

Hermione almost gagged at the thought. She hadn't thought about the possibility that some nasty wizards might be more interested in someone near teenage years than their own. She felt pity towards whoever had to marry Filch.

Shacklebolt continued. "The wizards rejected are given a list of still available women. Sadly some haven't been requested for at all given the difference in gender variation in the population, which is who are still available for request. There are simply more witches than wizards these days, even though it's not much at all."

Hermione nodded silently. Now she felt terribly rude. Here she had three people asking for her hand in marriage and was asking for another while some girls hadn't been asked for at all. There was no telling how horrible the girls might have felt at learning they were not asked for. They were merely considered the 'leftovers', she sincerely hoped they didn't see themselves that way.

" I understand. One of my suitors just will not marry me for any intention but to further himself in society, so I will choose between the remaining ones." She felt awkward for being so open to him at the moment.

"Who says I don't genuinely want to marry you?" A voice said from behind her. Hermione whipped her head around to see Draco Malfoy smirking back at her. "Hello, Granger."

"Malfoy." She said curtly. "Who said I was speaking about you at all?"

Kingsley looked at the clock above them. "I'm sorry, but I'm working on a case. We believe we might have found the location of Antonin Dolohov finally and I'm really pressed for time." Hermione noticed Draco looking uncomfortable at the mention of Dolohov's name.

Hermione nodded quickly and allowed him to pass. Now she felt guiltier for keeping him while he could be out catching one of the Death Eaters that had been remained being captured. And Hermione knew she would personally love to see Dolohov captured, especially after murdering Remus Lupin in the battle at Hogwarts.

"Now, shall we go discuss the terms of our marriage?" Draco brought her out of her thoughts with a charming smile, allowing her to pass him and walk to their room before him.

Hermione looked at him cautiously. It was a first for Draco Malfoy to be anything near chivalrous to her. His main concern was always himself, so something was most definitely up. Him wanting her to agree to marriage was what he wanted, obviously. She could guess that immediately, she wasn't the know-it-all merely at Hogwarts, after all. She walked slowly, glancing back to him occasionally. Each time, he merely smiled. It irked her to no end.

"Who says I'm agreeing at all?" She glared at him.

Draco wanted to laugh, but resisted.

In the room, Hermione's lawyer was already sitting down discussing things with his own. He could already see Hermione's surprise when she saw that Blaise was his lawyer. As soon as they noticed the pair had entered the room and closed the door, they cut off their conversation immediately. Hermione's lawyer had a frightened expression as he saw his client sit down when Draco pulled out her chair for her.

Good heavens he wanted to yank the chair out from under her just to see her fall.

Blaise noticed this, too, and gave him a warning look. Draco sighed and refrained from making the child-like gesture, sliding her slowly to the table before he returned to his own seat. "Since when is Blaise a lawyer?" Hermione asked, like the nosey witch she was.

"Since three years ago." Blaise confirmed. "Almost as long as I've been your lawyer's boss." He smirked. Hermione looked at Sebastian in surprise. "Thought you would have known at least some of that, Granger."

She was shocked. Of course she'd wanted to make sure she had a good lawyer, she had done her homework on the firm she hired Sebastian from. But she had never even heard that Blaise Zabini was his boss. "Isn't this a conflict of interests of some sort?" She questioned, almost certain that it was.

Blaise shrugged his shoulders. "In a sense, but only when we're discussing terms. Then again, we both have friend's interests at heart." Blaise's grin didn't seem as friendly as it was triumphant. "So there really isn't a problem. We wouldn't want to do anything dishonorable to a friend, now would we?" He asked, looking directly at Sebastian.

Draco was looking at Sebastian as well, who suddenly tugged on his tie.

"Well, then I don't see a reason to continue this meeting until our lawyers are changed. It would completely bias the terms." Hermione said, rising from her seat.

"Who's terms are we discussing? Are you saying you're going to marry me then?" Draco smirked when he saw Hermione blush slightly, and heard her mumble something like 'I didn't mean it that way'. It made him giddy to think he could annoy her simply like this. "Tell me, Granger, who else has asked you for marriage?" He asked, though already knowing the answer. He was a Malfoy after all, he had connections to find things out. He didn't even bother listening to what she replied with and instead pleasured himself with her even more angered look at the thought of the other two idiots.

It was hilarious once he'd heard of her other two suitors, he was surprised Hermione got any other suitors aside from her at all. How any man wanted to genuinely marry her he would never know. He wanted to throw a party with well things were working out.

_"Ambrose. Come here," Blaise called from his office._

Sebastian entered the room and jumped when the door slammed shut behind him. Turning around, he noticed another man in the room with them with startlingly white blond hair. Blaise motioned for him to sit down in front of his desk. "You called for me, sir?"

"You are Hermione Granger's lawyer now, are you not?" He asked and Sebastian nodded, confused by the sudden question about one of his newer clients. "Oh, how rude of me. You know of Draco Malfoy,"

Sebastian looked back at the blond man who gave a curt nod. "Pleasure," Sebastian said quickly before returning his attention back to his employer. "Are you needing anything in specific?" He wondered, still confused by his purpose of being there.

" I have something to offer you, a proposition you could call it." Blaise smiled, looking back to Draco. "With the new marriage law in tact, I am going to be Draco's lawyer. And he has generously asked for your client's hand in marriage." Blaise explained.

Sebastian glanced back to Draco who now had a slight smirk on his face. "Oh, well, that's very nice. But I don't know what this has to do with me."

"You need to do something, a favor, for me. And Draco. You see, as much as Draco desires to marry this girl, she isn't exactly fond of him," He said lightly.

Draco coughed from the corner. "That would be an understatement."

Blaise gave him a look Sebastian couldn't quite define. "Anyways, he really wants her to accept his proposal. And that's where you come in." Blaise smiled at Sebastian, it made him nervous.

Enough with the side-talking, Blaise needed to get straight to the point. "I need you to do whatever it takes to get Hermione Granger to accept Draco as a husband."

Sebastian would have fell out of his chair had he not been holding onto the handles. "But it's Miss Granger's choice, I don't see how I could do much."

"You are her legal advisor, you give her advice on making good decisions. Whatever good or bad it might be, you will say whatever it takes to convince Miss Granger that marrying Draco is in her best interest." Blaise said it as if it were nothing.

His boss was advising him to lie to his client? Sebastian had known of his employer's previous shady dealings back in his teenage years, but never held any of it against him. His Slytherin nature was showing bright today.

_"I'm sorry, sir. But what if I don't - '' Sebastian got cut off by Blaise holding up a hand to silence him._

"Then you will no longer be employed at this establishment." He said as if it were nothing.

Sebastian's mouth dropped open. "B-but that isn't even allowed! I have a family to feed. And quite honestly sir, you can't do that. It's blackmail!" He said boldly, cowering back down in his seat once Draco advanced towards them.

"You don't think I wouldn't, Ambrose?" Blaise asked. "I have more connections in this Ministry than you can even dream of, they won't see anything of me letting go of a minor employee." He smirked.

Hermione didn't even catch on to the fact that her lawyer was indeed _not _acting in her best interests. Yes, he was doing it for his family, but Draco found it quite funny nonetheless. "C'mon Granger, honestly. Could you imagine being a Goyle?" He laughed.

She narrowed her eyes. "Just as hard as I imagine being a Malfoy."

Draco rolled his eyes. "So you would rather marry Smith, then? Granger, he has no money. He has no intelligence, he has nothing to offer you. I could give you everything." He said simply.

"You in Azkaban?" Hermione couldn't help herself from making a low-blow, but Draco caught that she did not deny the comments about Zacharias either.

She knew Draco was supposed to be in Azkaban just as much as any of the other Death Eaters. The only reason he didn't have to serve a sentence was because he named and testified against many others. Which she felt was him cheating his way out of his punishment. If only they could find evidence of half of the things he'd done in the past, they could put him away like he deserved.

But perhaps _she_ could be the one to do that.

If she married him, she would live in the Malfoy Mansion. If she married him, she would have access to everything involving his family. If she was discreet enough, she could possibly do it right under his very nose without him knowing.

And she could finally get justice to those he harmed in the past by putting him in Azkaban.

Draco glared at her. "No, darling." He almost cringed, barely able to even use that word in the way of referring to her. It sickened him. How long could he keep up this act until she agreed?

"I'm sorry I can't get that. You will come to learn that I have paid my dues." He almost looked as though he were in pain for a moment before recovering. "I can give you wealth, I can give you a title, I can give you - "

"You would know that I care for none of that." She spat. "You are absolutely horrid to even thinkI care for such things. This is preposterous altogether! I loathe you!" Oh, how she wished she had allowed Ron to ask for her.

"And I hate you, dear mudblood." Draco couldn't hold the comment back and received a nudge from Blaise in the ribcage. "But we can't always have what we want, now can we? We must play with the cards we are dealt with."

"Come on, now. Hermione." Sebastian said quietly. "This is your best bet. A marriage to Mr. Malfoy would secure many things for you in your future." Hermione looked at him like he'd gone mad.

"Zacharias may not be the most intelligent but he could at least not try to harm me." She argued.

Draco looked up at her. "I promise I would never harm you physically. We can set it in a magical agreement with the terms." He said quietly. "Granger, I'm just trying to make peace with things. Two years, that's all. Then we can part ways."

"That doesn't exclude mental abuse, which I am not tolerant of, nor was I back in Hogwarts!" She pointed out. "You're simply trying to make peace for your peers. You want to be right back into the status of society. You're just angry because the world was revealed to what horrid views you have."

She glared. "Two years? What about the child I would have to have in order to comply with the law? What would we do then? I figured you wouldn't want to taint the Malfoy name. If only Lucius could see," She said with a grin.

Draco resisted the urge to jump over the table and just name off the things he hated about her to her face. Especially since she'd brought his father into it. It seemed immature but a good rant would cool him off at least somewhat. If she agreed to this, he would be amazed if they lasted the entire two years without one of them 'mysteriously' dying.

"We could share custody and I pay money to you in order to help raise the child when you need it, or I could take sole custody of the child if you wished. Granger, think. You would rather marry a Hufflepuff with no brains or a monkey rather than me?" He asked as if it were a joke. "Sebastian even thinks it's a good idea, don't you Sebastian?" He smirked, Hermione turned her attention to her lawyer.

"Sebastian you can't possibly think this is a good idea!" Hermione almost yelled.

Sebastian looked between his client and the two males in front of him. "Hermione, think please before you decide simply on your past history with Mr. Malfoy. He is willing to arrange deals with you, which your other suitors have not even offered to mention. He could give you so many things to secure your future - "

Hermione groaned in annoyance. "I've done said I don't need titles or money!"

"But what about your future child, Miss Granger? Please think of them when making such a decision." he warned. "I have a family myself. I am a lawyer, and it is still a bit of a struggle to make ends meet. This would be a wise decision to marry Mr. Malfoy. For your child's sake if not your own."

Hermione looked around the room. "I need time to think about this,"

She walked out of the room, leaving a smirking Draco and Blaise and a bothered Sebastian Ambrose behind.


End file.
